Last minute Yellowstone trip

[123LuckyMom]

I’ve decided I really want to take the kids to Yellowstone and maybe Teton this summer. Stantonhyde, I’ve read your excellent travel accounts. Here’s the thing. I don’t want to stay in the parks. Even if I had the time and energy to haunt the website and call daily, the park hotels have no air conditioning, no WiFi, little cell service. Usually this would be no big deal. We’re all nature lovers, hikers, and campers, but I’m having some medical issues, which is why I want to do this trip now, even though I don’t have time to plan, and why I need to do as much of it in air conditioning as I can and with daily ability to contact the outside world. We can spend up to two weeks on this trip, though I’d prefer to keep it to a week, but there’s no rush to see the whole park in two days. We can spend 4 or 5, and time in the car isn’t the end of the world. Also, we won’t be doing any strenuous hiking. Can anybody help me plan a trip that enables us to stay outside the park each night and still get to see everything? West Yellowstone seems close to the geysers, and Gardiner seems close to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. What about the lake area or the Lamar valley? I’m tempted to take a tour from Jackson, but I think the kids will be happier if we have freedom to operate independently Any suggestions?


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[nfceagles]

I don’t know how easy it will be to get reservations but how about this idea. Picture Yellowstone as a figure 8

Base out of West Yellowstone
Day 1- Do the northern half of the 8.
Day 2- Explore West Yellowstone.
Day 3- Do the southern half of the 8 (skipping Old Faithful if needed)
Day 4- Pack up and drive from West Yellowstone through the Park to Grand Tetons, stopping at Old Faithful on the way. See some things in the northern portion of GT as time allows. Stop in Jackson.

Base out of Jackson
Day 5- Explore Grand Tetons
Day 6- Explore Grand Tetons
Day 7- Explore Jackson

We did an RV trip from SLC to W Yellowstone to GT to Jackson a couple summers ago so I could fill in with more details. Just trying to brainstorm how to see it all from hotels outside the parks. I think Lamar Valley will be the hardest to get to, especially if you want to hit it early in the morning. My plan doesn’t really figure that out.



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[AnnieW625]

If you want to keep a base in Jackson you could do two or three days in Grand Tetons and then do a day or two in Yellowstone. It is about 2 hours with minimal traffic to Old Faithful from Jackson (my in-laws live an hour south of Jackson so we have done day trips to Yellowstone and while we don’t get to see the whole park we still get to see some stuff especially when it isn’t crowded; we like mid to late August vs. early July as well because most of the schools are back in session (our school district doesn’t start until a week before Labor Day or the day after).


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[123LuckyMom]

What about Cooke City as a base for the Lamar valley? Might that work?


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ETA: This is the tour I was thinking about booking— or maybe I could just use the itinerary to plan my own trip, which I would vastly prefer. What does this tour leave out? I definitely do want to do some short, easy hikes with the kids, maybe swim in the boiling river. If we added another day or two to explore on our own, what does this tour skip that we want to do or see?

https://www.getyourguide.com/-t53060/?partner_id=6N2B5KS&cmp=YellowstoneHotels

[nfceagles]

Cooke City looks like it would work well. I haven’t been there to vouch for it.

We parked our RV at a campground in West Yellowstone and rented a car for our drives into the park. One night we packed an overnight bag and stayed in the hotel in Canyon Village. They don’t have AC but are otherwise modern and new. Close to an eatery and market too. From there we got up early the next morning and drove to the Lamar Valley and back. If you don’t mind one night in a park hotel, that might work. Just wanted to throw it out there to generate ideas.

I don’t have time at the moment to look through that tour.


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[StantonHyde]

I hear you on the wifi, pool etc. Just know that you won't need AC in Yellowstone or Jackson really. It gets very cool at night. When I backpack in the mountains in the summer, I often wear long underwear to sleep. But you want locations outside the park, so let's look at that:

West Yellowstone is a great base for the Southern part of the Yellowstone figure 8. There isn't much in West itself. I do recommend that 3 bears inn or whatever the hotel was where we stayed. You can drive down to the Herriman Ranch and do some uber flat hiking there and see some cool stuff. But I would just stay in West and focus on Yellowstone. You could do that southern part in 2 days easily. Just focus on the eastern part--so the drive up to Old Faithful. The Firehole River Drive, the geyser basins, Old Faithful, and the walk around OF are not to be missed. Truly amazing. And that's all just gentle walking. You could do that all in a day if you push it.

Then drive up the western part to Mammoth Hot Springs/Gardner. Stop along the way at various geyser type things. You could take a day to do this or just half a day.

Stay in Gardner and see Mammoth and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 1-2 days. Mammoth is a quick look--like maybe an hour. Grand Canyon takes more time. But you can do this all in one day if you want.

I guess you could just do Mammoth and Canyon in a day and then stay in Cook City. I dunno. Cook City is small. See if you can get a hotel there. On the plus side, you would be driving to/from Cook City in the evening and early morning which gives you a better chance to see the wolves in the Lamar Valley.

Then drive along that Eastern part of the north figure 8 and see the Lake and West Thumb Areas and continue on to Jackson. That will take a whole day.

Stay in Jackson--I have travel accounts of kids in Jackson as well so you can look at those. I would stay at the Virginian or at the cabins at Dornans. You can see GTNP in 2 days. Add another day for Jackson.

I don't recommend tours in Yellowstone--you can drive yourself around and do the same things. Have you looked at the park newsletter at the nps.gov website? It will have all the info on road closures, Ranger programs, hikes, where you can eat in the parks etc. That is the biggest help for planning.

For last minute trips, I just tell myself that this may not be the ideal trip, but it will still be a good trip and you will see what you see.

[123LuckyMom]

I hear you on the wifi, pool etc. Just know that you won't need AC in Yellowstone or Jackson really. It gets very cool at night. When I backpack in the mountains in the summer, I often wear long underwear to sleep. But you want locations outside the park, so let's look at that:

West Yellowstone is a great base for the Southern part of the Yellowstone figure 8. There isn't much in West itself. I do recommend that 3 bears inn or whatever the hotel was where we stayed. You can drive down to the Herriman Ranch and do some uber flat hiking there and see some cool stuff. But I would just stay in West and focus on Yellowstone. You could do that southern part in 2 days easily. Just focus on the eastern part--so the drive up to Old Faithful. The Firehole River Drive, the geyser basins, Old Faithful, and the walk around OF are not to be missed. Truly amazing. And that's all just gentle walking. You could do that all in a day if you push it.

Then drive up the western part to Mammoth Hot Springs/Gardner. Stop along the way at various geyser type things. You could take a day to do this or just half a day.

Stay in Gardner and see Mammoth and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 1-2 days. Mammoth is a quick look--like maybe an hour. Grand Canyon takes more time. But you can do this all in one day if you want.

I guess you could just do Mammoth and Canyon in a day and then stay in Cook City. I dunno. Cook City is small. See if you can get a hotel there. On the plus side, you would be driving to/from Cook City in the evening and early morning which gives you a better chance to see the wolves in the Lamar Valley.

Then drive along that Eastern part of the north figure 8 and see the Lake and West Thumb Areas and continue on to Jackson. That will take a whole day.

Stay in Jackson--I have travel accounts of kids in Jackson as well so you can look at those. I would stay at the Virginian or at the cabins at Dornans. You can see GTNP in 2 days. Add another day for Jackson.

I don't recommend tours in Yellowstone--you can drive yourself around and do the same things. Have you looked at the park newsletter at the nps.gov website? It will have all the info on road closures, Ranger programs, hikes, where you can eat in the parks etc. That is the biggest help for planning.

For last minute trips, I just tell myself that this may not be the ideal trip, but it will still be a good trip and you will see what you see.

This is really helpful. I’ll definitely look at the newsletters. We’re planning to go mid to late August. I’m very worried about the A/C. I also live in a place where it gets cool at night in the summer. You used to never need air conditioning, ever, but nowadays we do get heat waves where the temperatures don’t go down far enough to compensate for the heat of the day, and after three days, the heat buildup can be really bad. And even in previous years, the house would be hot in the evening before the temps went down. Is it really, truly, always the case that it’s cool in those hotel rooms in the evenings?

Meanwhile, just in case, I’ve reserved a room in West Yellowstone at the place you said you stayed in your trip report, Clubhouse West. I’ll look at 3 Bears, too, and hotels in the other locations. That way I’ll know I can do the trip even if I can’t get park rooms or chicken out about staying in the park.



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[123LuckyMom]

It’s looking like flights to and from Bozeman are cheaper and significantly shorter/easier than to Jackson. Now I’m thinking:

Option 1:

Day 1 (Saturday): arrive Bozeman and drive to West Yellowstone. (1.5 hours)

Day 2: West Yellowstone hotel to
lower west section. Start at Old Faithful and drive back up with stops back to West Yellowstone.

Day 3: West Yellowstone hotel to upper west section. End in Gardiner to stay over night.

Day 4: Gardiner hotel to upper east section. Mammoth Springs and Canyon. Exit the park at dusk to see wildlife in Lamar Valley. Overnight in Cooke City.

Day 5: Cooke City hotel through Lamar Valley to lower eastern side of loop. Lakes. Exit park to Jackson.

Day 6 (Thursday): Jackson.

Day 7 (Friday): Jackson through Grand Teton to Bozeman? Or to West Yellowstone and from there to airport the next day at some ungodly hour of the morning?

Day 8: Fly out of Bozeman.


Or OPTION 2:

Day 1: Fly into Bozeman and drive to Gardiner.

Day 2: Gardiner hotel to northeast of loop. Mammoth springs and canyon. Exit to Cooke City through Lamar valley.

Day 3: Cooke City through Lamar Valley to lower east side of loop, the lakes. Exit park to Jackson.

Day 4: Jackson

Day 5: GTNP to West Yellowstone.

Day 6: West Yellowstone hotel to Old Faithful and Rest of Southwest of lower loop.

Day 7: West Yellowstone hotel to northwest of upper loop. Exit park through Gardiner and drive to Bozeman.

Day 8: fly home.


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[StantonHyde]

I would do your second option.

[bisous]

Have fun on your trip and let us know how it goes!

[Chitowngirl]

Following


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[AnnieW625]

No clue which is better, but yes flying into Jackson for a family is cost prohibitive! It is 45 minutes to an hour from my in laws so much closer than Salt Lake, but we always end up driving 3 to 4 hours from Salt Lake and even with needing a rental car and gas it is still cheaper than paying for four to fly into Jackson and then borrowing one of the ILs cars.


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[123LuckyMom]

I would do your second option.

Thanks! I’m only worried about making sure we have enough time for the geysers. I’m going to try to plan this one, though, and then try to see if I can get rooms in the parks. If I can’t, though, at least I’ll have a back-up plan so I know we can do the trip.


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[ahisma]

Thanks! I’m only worried about making sure we have enough time for the geysers. I’m going to try to plan this one, though, and then try to see if I can get rooms in the parks. If I can’t, though, at least I’ll have a back-up plan so I know we can do the trip.


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If you are able to get a room at Old Faithful Inn, that's a great geyser option. One of our family's favorite memories is watching Old Faithful from the deck of Old Faithful Inn. Bring bug spray to the deck, though.

[123LuckyMom]

I did it! I’ve booked the flights and fully refundable rooms in Gardiner, Cooke City, Jackson, West Yellowstone, and Bozeman. I know now we can do this trip, and I have time to play with the hotels and work towards getting rooms in the park, though I’m still worried about not having A/C! The only thing I haven’t done yet is reserve a car. It’ll just be the four of us and four carry-on size bags. Do you think a regular sedan is okay, or will we want a minivan or SUV? I like having the minivan because it’s easy to change clothes in the car if necessary, but it would be nice to save the money. We won’t have any extra passengers. Do we need four wheel drive at all?


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[AnnieW625]

Way back in 2007 on our first trip to Wyoming it was the last few days of June and first week in July, and it was hotter than normal like low to mid 90s in the middle southern part of the state where my in-laws live, but in Yellowstone near Old Faithful the weather was fine, maybe 85-90, which was hot for the area, but it wasn’t unbearable, and it still got cold at night (my in-laws keep flannel sheets on their beds year round). We had AC in the car. TBH it was honestly no worse than our house in Los Angeles during the middle or late summer when it is still 80 at night and we have no AC. I am sure you will be okay. My FIL says there is still snow on the ground some years until mid June in places.

If you can book a minivan or small SUV great, but honestly you will be fine with a sedan. We have had a Hyundai Sonata, and a Nissan Altima and been okay. You won’t need 4WD.


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[StantonHyde]

No need for 4W Drive. Obviously, its nice to have space--e.g. minivan. But if you want to save money, go with the sedan. Yellowstone is at 8,000 feet elevation-its cold at night. Make sure you pack a fleece for everybody! (I worked at Old Faithful for a summer, we had no AC in the dorms. I slept under a down comforter the whole summer!)

[westwoodmom04]

We did a tour with a naturalist from Yellowstone Forever, who spent a full day with our family. It was not necessary, but for non-outdoorsy people like us, it was perfect. We spent one day in the park on our own, doing the geysers/western side of the park, and the next with the naturalist, who took us to the grand canyon, on two separate hikes -- each about an hour, one on one of the mountains, another near Yellowstone Lake. She also took us to see various wildlife, including the wolves. We spent five more days in the area -- maybe two exploring Grand Tetons on our own, the others spent white water rafting, horse back riding, bike riding, exploring the town of Jackson, etc. . .

We stayed only one night in Yellowstone, the rest was split between a hotel in Jackson and an airbnb in Teton Village. My kids loved the aerial adventure course in Teton Village.

I can't imagine air conditioning will be an issue, the high was only in the mid seventies when we were there in late July -- friends that went a month earlier had some snow.